{"id":4239,"date":"2019-12-14T11:55:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T17:55:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/lostinaoneacrewood\/?p=4239"},"modified":"2019-12-14T11:55:18","modified_gmt":"2019-12-14T17:55:18","slug":"thomas-merton-monk-in-and-for-troubled-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lostinaoneacrewood\/2019\/12\/14\/thomas-merton-monk-in-and-for-troubled-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Merton, Monk in and for Troubled Times"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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The Dalai Lama said Merton understood Buddhism<\/a> more profoundly than any other Christian he had met.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I first met Thomas Merton in his early book Seeds of Contemplation<\/em>. I was a philosophy student in the 1960\u2019s, wondering how such an airy pursuit could matter in a time as troubled as the one I lived in. Merton\u2019s life spanned a lot more trouble than mine had, but he managed to satisfy both my need for peace and my urge to explore the terrain of thought. It didn\u2019t hurt that I found in and behind Seeds<\/em> echoes of Thomas Aquinas, whose philosophy my teachers tried to instill in me. I was yet to learn of the Thomas Merton who engaged a much wider world of thought and action.<\/p>\n

This is the third in the \u201cOrdinary Radicals\u201d series. Here is what Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals says about Thomas Merton in its December 10 entry:<\/p>\n

Thomas Merton pursued the ideals of pleasure and freedom in early adulthood only to reject them as an illusion and embrace a life of prayer and silence as a Trappist monk. His 1949 conversion story, The Seven Storey Mountain, was a surprise bestseller, introducing millions of modern people to the gifts of monasticism. A mentor to many activists in the Catholic peace movement, Merton became a prophetic voice for peace and nonviolence in the twentieth century, despite the fact that his order censored his \u201cpolitical\u201d writings. Convinced that contemplative life must engage the world, he prepared the way for a new monasticism.<\/p>\n

Some facts about Thomas Merton:<\/strong><\/h4>\n